I often balk when I find a plant in a nursery that exceeds $100 wondering what on earth could possess the store owner to charge so much. I get the whole economics "supply/demand" thing but often these plants are nothing more than over-priced specimens that if ignored long enough will probably be discounted in a future sale.

So, for me, it seems ludicrous that anyone could part with an amount that mimics their mortgage for a living plant. I would be too worried that my gardening skills weren't up to scratch and I'd lose it to poor nutrition or bad watering practices. Or worse, the kids would knock it over with their soccer ball.

Yet it appears that the art of expensive bonsai is very much alive and well. After reading comments from this forum, $188,000 for a bonsai tree may nearly be considered "chicken feed".

However, this is not gardening. This is art.

Gardeners wouldn't do this. We'd appreciate the age of the plant and the techniques that have been employed over the many years of its life in order to present in such a way. We'd even marvel at the history that has bought a plant to this place in time but we still wouldn't see the value in it.

Gardeners would look at this and say, "Yer, I could do that". We'd much prefer to put our hands into our gardening tool belt than into our wallets because we know that while we can't replicate the age and history, we could almost carbon-copy the design.

Purveyors of art are happy not to tend their masterpieces leaving them for curators of art galleries instead but gardeners love to engage with plants. Even gardeners who collect plants aren't willing to pass on the upkeep of these specimens to others preferring instead to be the primary caregiver.

So, are my assumptions correct about gardeners or would you be prepared to spend this kind of money on a living plant?